Timothy Jay Schwab who is The God Culture has written a third piece about Revelation 20. One must wonder if this is in collaboration with the so-called God Culture research team or if he's going it alone. Are the members of his team all aboard on the denial of the eternal punishment of the wicked and the denial of the bodily resurrection? Surely his second wife, the twice divorced Anna Rose Gacayan Zamoranos Schwab, is riding that train. So, let's dig into the third installment in this series.
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| https://thegodculturephilippines.com/the-final-judgment-the-vision-that-rewinds/ |
When Satan is cast into the Lake of Fire in Revelation 20:10, many readers assume the following vision of the Great White Throne (v. 11–15) takes place 1,000 years later as a second and separate event.
But the text does not declare a new judgment. Rather, John shifts the prophetic angle — returning to the Day of Judgment already initiated by the First Resurrection and finalized at the Second Death.
This is not a sequel — it is a rewind.
Tim says many readers assume the vision of the White Throne judgement takes place 1,000 years after Satan is cast into the lake of fire. How about some proof of that? How about a quote from a commentary? Who exactly says the Great White Throne judgment takes place 1,000 years after Satan is cast into the lake of fire? Knowing who teaches that doctrine and why they teach it would help in understanding what Tim is combating. It's ludicrous that he always mentions scholars and their teaching but never gets into the nitty gritty details. He never brings receipts.
📜 1 Revelation Is Cyclical, Not Strictly Linear
Revelation is not structured like a modern history timeline. It is composed of visions introduced with phrases like “And I saw…” which often mark a shift in perspective rather than a new event in time. Examples:
Revelation 14 cycles back to describe the harvest from a heavenly angle.
Revelation 19 replays Yahusha’s return from a different vantage.
So when John says, “And I saw a great white throne…” (Rev. 20:11), he is shifting into another camera angle of the same ultimate moment — not advancing 1,000 years beyond it. He is returning to the context of the Day of Judgment. He only advanced to define Satan's end.
This is true. Revelation is not a linear book. It's also not literal. It is symbolic. Now let's get to the real meat and potatoes; Tim does not understand the meaning of the first resurrection.
📘 4 The Book of Life Opens Once — Not Twice
Revelation 20:12:
“…and the books were opened… and another book was opened, which is the book of life…”
This aligns with Daniel 7:10 — one courtroom moment.
If this were a new era, there would need to be:
❌ A second resurrection❌ A second book opening❌ A second second-death
Scripture declares none of these.
Once the Book is opened by Yahusha, the eternal verdict is final. That occurs in all of scripture on the Day of Judgment at the end of the Great Tribulation. It cannot replay 1,000 years later.
Tim says there is no second resurrection but if that is the case then there is no FIRST resurrection.
Revelation 20:4 And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them: and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years.
5 But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection.
6 Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years.
As has been shown previously Tim is operating in a premillennial framework. That means Tim teaches Jesus literally reigns for 1,000 years with the resurrected saints before the last judgement. However, there is no bodily resurrection. The saints are given brand new heavenly bodies which, as has been noted, is a denial of the resurrection.
According to Tim the wicked are not resurrected but are instead immediately annihilated. But his own words contradict him.
🌊 5 “The Sea Gave Up the Dead” — Echoes Yahusha’s Own Words
Revelation 20:13:
“And the sea gave up the dead… and death and hell delivered up the dead…”
Yahusha already described this exact resurrection event:
“All that are in the graves shall hear His voice, and shall come forth…” — John 5:28–29
This is not post-1,000 years — it is the same resurrection moment already initiated by the First Resurrection and completed at judgment. In modern scholarship, this is the worst of conflation.
This is wrong. This is NOT the first resurrection. That already happened in verses 4-6. There are two ways to view the first resurrection. One is that the saints have been bodily resurrected and are reigning with Christ for 1,000 years. The other is the first resurrection is the calling to newness of life by the Father.
John 5:24 Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life.
25 Verily, verily, I say unto you, The hour is coming, and now is, when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God: and they that hear shall live.
26 For as the Father hath life in himself; so hath he given to the Son to have life in himself;
27 And hath given him authority to execute judgment also, because he is the Son of man.
28 Marvel not at this: for the hour is coming, in the which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice,
29 And shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation.
There are two distinct resurrections in this passage. The first resurrection is passing "from death unto life" when a man believes on Jesus Christ and the second is the general judgment at the end of the world. There are many passages describing salvation as becoming alive.
2 Corinthians 5:17 Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.
Ephesians 2:1 And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins;
Romans 6:3 Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death?
4 Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.
5 For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection:
6 Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin.
7 For he that is dead is freed from sin.
8 Now if we be dead with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with him:
9 Knowing that Christ being raised from the dead dieth no more; death hath no more dominion over him.
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